Ketogenic Diet for Seizures

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.”

Thomas Edison in 1903

Has anyone heard about the “Ketogenic diet”, “Keto” or being in “Ketosis”? I’m sure many of you have, if not, I guarantee you will hear about it soon. I started researching the Keto diet or MAD (Modified Atkins diet) when I was diagnosed with seizures. I heard about the Keto diet when it was used in the 1920s to help reduce or stop seizures for children. Especially for children who were drug resistant with anticonvulsant drugs. That is how I first learned about the Keto.

Now, the interest in the Keto diet is at an all time high! I’ve learned that there are other significant healthy aspects about going Keto. Including weight loss, anti-aging, improving brain function, ADHD, Autism, Alzheimer’s and so much more. I like how some low carb, high fat supporters call it “The Big Fat Surprise”.

The media is blowing up about the Keto lifestyle. I’ve been hearing a lot about Keto benefits on podcasts, books and social media. So, what is Keto? It is a low carb diet, where the body produces ketones in the liver to be used as energy. It’s referred to as many different names – Ketogenic diet, low carb diet, low carb and high fat (LCHF), etc. Going on the Keto diet adapts your body to produce ketones in the liver to be used as energy. Eating high carbs, your body will produce glucose and insulin. Apparently, your body doesn’t give you good energy on glucose. Eat fat and burn fat! I understand that when I read the information about Keto, it is very overwhelming.

“Being in Ketosis“

First off, when you 100% eat Keto, it puts your body in ketosis. Ketosis is the metabolic process of using fat as the primary source of energy instead of carbohydrates. You enter ketosis when your body doesn’t have enough glucose ( a lot of carbohydrates) available. I’m still absorbing all this research and “science tech” terms. I get it when I hear that if you eat good fats, you burn fat and your brain does well with fat. I mean there is obviously more explanation to that.

It’s interesting because when I do my research or talk to doctors about the Keto diet, they don’t get all hyped up about it. That I should REALLY be doing this. They usually recommend it for children who have not responded to several seizure medicines. But, I am like Hey, my medications aren’t doing a damn thing, so can I try it? What do I have to lose? I want to lose weight too, so that is a nice benefit of the Keto diet. This is something I can control – what I feed my body. I can’t control the convulsing, the lip smacking, everything a person has to go through when having a seizure. Where do I begin on how to start eating Keto?

Here are some of my favorite Keto enthusiasts:

Dr David Perlmutter. I read his Grain Brain book. He also wrote books like the Brain Maker. I like his research on how gluten affects the gut and brain.

Dave Asprey. Founder of BulletProof Coffee. An advocate of high fat diet to maximize body and cognitive performance. The BulletProof coffee is really popular! When I heard about this recipe about 3 years ago, I made it at work and my coworkers were thinking I was crazy for putting butter in my coffee. Here is the recipe.

Dominic D’ Agostino. My boyfriend found a podcast on him. It was with Tim Ferris on how he studied the Keto diet to combat oxygen toxicity in navy divers.

Tim Ferris. I know of Tim Ferris as a “podcaster”. He is also a strong advocate for the Keto diet. He has amazing interviews with many doctors, neurologists and other Keto supporters talking about how Keto diet has SO MANY great benefits for the body.

Jimmy Moore. I learned about Jimmy Moore from his cookbook “The Ketogenic Cookbook”. This was the first Ketogenic cookbook I bought! I liked his story on weight loss. He weighed about 410 pounds at 32 years old. He made the decision to start changing his lifestyle. Like what I am trying to do!

Mark Sisson. Mark is a stud. My boyfriend told me about him through this podcast. If you noticed that I learned about all these Keto supporters from podcasts. Because my boyfriend LOVES podcasts. Mark is a distance runner, triathlete and Ironman competitor. He is 65 and this is the guy I want my Mom to date. Again, he is a stud. I read his book “The Keto Reset Diet”. He has great recipes, my favorite is these pizza bites! I trained my brain to get rid of bread. And I am a HUGE pizza fan so that recipe is a great replacement.

Leanne Vogel. My sister actually sent me her podcast episode on Binge eating. I am a sweets binger. Chocolate, cake, candy, ice cream – Guilty as charged. I love Leanne’s audience as it is directed more towards women. I just bought her book “The Keto Diet”.

Here is a helpful article on 5 basic things you should know about the Keto diet: Look at #2 for me 🙂

https://bit.ly/2O3qhLk

This is a lot of info on the Keto diet. It’s crazy is that there is MORE. But check out how many online searchers are googling “Keto”

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About Me

Hi, I'm Melissa. A life enthusiast and an Epilepsy Advocate! In 2014, I was diagnosed with Epilepsy. This is where I document my journey and hope to inspire you to support Epilepsy and how to "seize life's moments".